Topic: Do You Phase Or Are You Slowing Down Your Gambling Activity When.... - page 5. (Read 708 times)

I never thought about this, i just gamble when i feel like it, no matter what's the occasion since you can just open your phone/computer to bet. But if it's a land based gambling, it's prohibited anywhere in my area for any religious occasion so ye.

Yes, there's no text saying that "gambling" is forbidden, but there are lots of text there that describe to avoid such activity, like love of money and get-rich-quick schemes for the cause it may affect the user — evil thoughts due to money... But just like you said, who cares, millions of christians do gamble.

It's personal choice, we can't do about that, gambling exists even before the BC era, or even the religion was first introduced where there are many holy people believing into it, how much more now where too many liberated minds and etc.

If my wife and kids will go on vacation with her mother then I bet I won't have anything to do so I might still gamble but yes, it will be slowed down.
A time to just have a peaceful week and think about the Lord.
I'd probably marathon "The Bible" series again or I could just watch any series out there to get out of boredom.
Still, I think it's the time to think about many things and not just about religion. For me, the Holy Week is about that and not the New Year. Resolutions are always broken so I don't believe that.
But we don't really have a tradition of going to someplace. Just being with the family in silence and resting is our tradition and I think that is enough. Avoiding bad habits too will be a good thing. No drinks, less gambling maybe, or better no gambling at all at this time. Well, there's a lot of things that we can do thanks to the internet so I don't think I need to force myself to gamble just because of boredom.

There is no single verse in the Bible that discusses gambling, so I don't know where religious teachers got the teachings that gambling is forbidden in Christianity. The Bible only talks about being in a rush to get wealth which can also be related to other life endeavours including gambling. The Bible focuses more on moderation in anything you do including drinking alcohol. I will not agree that Christianity is weird but I will concur that it is different religious teachers that come up with different teachings that are making the religion complicated. Some preachers will tell you that drinking alcohol is a sin, but this is not the position of the Bible. It is better to read and study the Holy and also pray yo get understanding.      


Islam has a clear law about gambling and every faithful know that it is a sin. Any Muslim who gambles are committing sin. But this is not the case in other religions where followers rely on preachers for the interpretation of the Holy Books. I have seen many Muslims who drink alcohol, that's proof that they are not good Muslims just like those who gamble.  

I knew it’s ironic to mix religious belief on gambling especially slowing down on gambling due to certain religion activities but I often do this because my conscience makes me think that I’m heavily committing sin when gambling while others is participating on religious event despite I’m not a devotee on religion.

Sometimes our conscience play an important role on skipping gambling when there’s other activity related to faith. I said it’s ironic because religion is strongly opposed gambling while we knew that most of the gamblers doesn’t have strong faith but in my case I still slowing down as I view it as bad luck when my conscience doesn’t agree to what I’m doing.

In fact, you either play or you don't play. If your religion forbids you to play, then this prohibition applies for life. It is wrong to think that you are not being watched by a higher power. You can't hide from them behind a curtain. And interrupting the game during religious activities has no effect. You have to be honest with yourself - that's where it all starts

I think the biggest event that led me to control my gambling sprees/temptations was the pandemic.

Before the pandemic, I was frequently visiting physical casinos with my brother as we tried all sorts of games that were offered. Additionally, in our casino here in the Philippines, the gambling establishment offers lots of free and complementary drinks and amenities in order to fully utilize their offers. We experienced both winning and losing at the same time but the experience and time we had were really unforgettable.

Then the pandemic happened- this stopped our gambling sprees and it gave us some time to reflect on the decisions what we have made and the opportunities that we should have maximized. Even though there is an influx of online casinos presently, I think we just decided to quit gambling for the meantime and focus on our real-life obligations.

@un_rank said Muslims do not gamble. There is no gambling for them whether Ramadan or Eidul-Fitar or any other holyday.

For us who are nonbelievers who only worship the Sun, I think there is no sin in gambling, any day can be a gambling day. But what if there is a boxing or MMA event at the time of religious week are you not going to sneak out using your phone and bet on the main event where you could practically make a large sum?  Missed opportunities are never going to wait for you.

Oshosondy it seems you have deviated from the main argument of the ops which is based on religious activities and not just the festive period.

Taking a break that the ops means is when you are engaged in religious activities like the Christians that the ops mentioned have the fasting period and even the Muslims do too,  so the ops want to know how we as members of those religions handle our gambling during the period of fasting and other religious spiritual things such as prayer and fasting.

For me,  during a time when we are involved in anything that has to do with consecration, I usually stay away from activities that could engage my mind with anything negative so I stay off gambling and all other fun-seeking activities to focus on the program.

what do you mean by weird? it's not christians who are weird, but individuals who violate their religious rules who are weird. because in christianity gambling is prohibited and has been explained clearly. so when someone violates this, it is not the teachings that are "weird" but the individual who violates this, and it is entirely the individual's fault.

and not only christians, but muslims too. in my country, which is the largest muslim, there are millions of people who gamble, even when the government prohibits it. does this make muslims "weird"? that's not, because muslims clearly forbid gambling, and when an individual violates that, it is completely that person's sin and has nothing to do with the teachings of his religion.

I think this is a good way do reduce people's gambling problems.

Remember, If during Ramadhan you can stop gambling for more than 1 month you can keep continuing and break the 3-month number. The first 1-2 weeks will be hard for some people my advice transfer all the money into some trustee person.

Ask them, to manage your financial economy.

Gambling is forbidden in Islam, so a Muslim is already committing Haram if he engages in gambling. In Christianity, it is the Roman Catholics that recognise the Holly weeks of Lent which lasts for forty days before the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I don't know about any other religion, during the holy weeks in my religious sect, you are mandated to avoid food, water or any activity that gives you pleasure or fun. So one might decide to abstain from gambling as part of the things to avoid during this period. Due to an increase in religious activities, my gambling life usually suffers during the holy days. Sometimes I might not have the spare time to engage in gambling because I need to be more focused on some religious rituals. However, I don't take a break because I still gamble with the little time I have, since gambling is not a sin in my religion.  

Christianity is a weird religion.

In recognized holy religious texts there's no mention of gambling. However most priests will say it's a mortal sin to gamble, play cards or derive enjoyment from such games.

And still in almost all predominantly Christian societies there's little to no stigma against gambling. People will do it, sometimes daily. In villages, in the cities. There's TV commercials, legal online casinos, team sponsorships... It's a very weird dynamic actually.

So while during Christian holidays priests will urge people to stay away from such "sinful" activities even more, nobody listens. Festive gambling activities are even higher than on average actually. My country is a great example of this. While the vast majority will gladly state that they are devout orthodox Christians here in Greece, only if you account for the licensed online casinos, they had a turnover of like 30 billion EUR in a year. It's crazy.

Honestly I don't judge people for wanting to partake in religious activities. And hiding their gambling habits through online casinos is also their right in my book.
But I can't understate how pretentious I find it of so many Christians to play a role of a devout man, while behind closed doors they're wasting their money on gambling online.
Of course governments here in Europe also have a role in this by giving a green light to all forms of gambling promotion while doing absolutely nothing to provide meaningful means for people to get off-addictions. All this while our local governments also heavily favor Christian Churches. So the biggest hypocrites in all of these are governments again.

Muslims do not gamble at all, so you can take that off your thread. For the other religions, I do not think anyone should gamble so compulsively that they would need a break from it during religious activities.

I gamble in my spare time and it does not interfere with my day at all.

- Jay -

I see no reason for adopting gambling restrictions due to yearly religious events. I think it's hypocrisy to avoid gambling only in determined days of the year justifying religious reasons. If you think gambling is wrong and it's against your personal values, you shouldn't gamble at all, doesn't matter the day or period of the year. A sin will be still a sin, despite the day of the year.

Personally I don't have any issues with gambling and I don't consider it an offense to my spiritual values, rather I consider addiction to be the issue. So, if you gamble, but aren't an addicted and don't put money above everything else, there isn't any problems and you are free to gamble during holy seasons without harming your conscience.

I will stop my gambling activities until the religious event is over. It doesn't matter if the event lasts for two weeks or more because I am not an active gambler who often gambles.

Those are the times I relax for a while by not thinking about gambling. And at that time, I will follow the event too and enjoy it with my family. It will be an exciting moment for all of us.

I can back to gambling after the event is over. I can save my allocated funds for gambling because I stop it until the religious event is over.

I am not gambling frequently. So why the need for me to take a break. If I have the time to gamble, I will gamble. If I do not have the time, I will not gamble. My gambling activities is not about festive period. It is about having time to gamble. During the festive period, I might have time to be with friends and gamble together which is fun for me.

I'm talking about religious activity..

The Christians have the Holy Week and it lasts for a whole week.


The other religions I did not mention have activities or festivities that their followers and believers must observe.

Did you slow down or are you taking a vacation? how long is your vacation before and after the religious activity?

In my case, I usually slow down and stop all my gambling activity, two weeks before the religious activity so I can fully reflect on my religion, and after the religious activity, I usually take a week before I get back to my normal gambling activity.

You participation in this discussion is appreciated.